Caryatid, 2016
Something There Was That Must Have Loved a Wall, Pi Artworks Gallery, Istanbul, 2016
Installation
wooden molding, fabric, electric motor
340cm x 90cm x 90cm
Since the early 20th century, architects and theorists of architecture have paid increasing attention to the links between clothing and architecture. A striking example is that both modern architecture and women's clothing became more functional and less ornamental. With a series of works across the rooms of the historical Mısır Apartment building, Farniyaz Zaker investigates these connections. In this installation, a cloth ‘caryatid’ stands in the middle of the gallery, a striking echo of the room around it. Transforming and redefining the space with this kind of extraordinary intervention, Zaker highlights that the built environment is not a static and neutral space, but that it is empowered by (and empowering) human subjects, and both reproduces and challenges dominant gender conventions.